variable
apt or liable to vary or change; changeable: variable weather;variable moods.
capable of being varied or changed; alterable: a variable time limit for completion of a book.
inconstant; fickle: a variable lover.
having much variation or diversity.
Biology. deviating from the usual type, as a species or a specific character.
Astronomy. (of a star) changing in brightness.
Meteorology. (of wind) tending to change in direction.
Mathematics. having the nature or characteristics of a variable.
something that may or does vary or change; a variable feature or factor.
Mathematics, Computers.
a quantity or function that may assume any given value or set of values.
a symbol that represents this.
Logic. (in the functional calculus) a symbol for an unspecified member of a class of things or statements.: Compare bound variable, free variable.
Astronomy. variable star.
Meteorology.
a shifting wind, especially as distinguished from a trade wind.
variables, doldrums (def. 2a).
Origin of variable
1Other words for variable
3 | vacillating, wavering, fluctuating, unsteady, mercurial |
Opposites for variable
Other words from variable
- var·i·a·bil·i·ty [vair-ee-uh-bil-i-tee], /ˌvɛər i əˈbɪl ɪ ti/, var·i·a·ble·ness, noun
- var·i·a·bly, adverb
- hy·per·var·i·a·ble, adjective
- hy·per·var·i·a·bly, adverb
- non·var·i·a·ble, adjective
- non·var·i·a·ble·ness, noun
- non·var·i·a·bly, adverb
- un·var·i·a·ble, adjective
- un·var·i·a·ble·ness, noun
- un·var·i·a·bly, adverb
Words that may be confused with variable
- variable , variant
Words Nearby variable
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use variable in a sentence
As a result, the number of possible permutations of variables, or ways of arranging colors on the dice, is 239,000 — a very, very big number.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem | Kevin Hartnett | August 19, 2020 | Quanta MagazineDuring periods of stress, heart rate becomes less variable and the time between beats gets shorter.
Why do we miss the rituals put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic? | Sujata Gupta | August 14, 2020 | Science NewsAcross all of the experiments, controlling for lots of variables, the researchers found that the tilted coins distracted people and slowed them down from finding the actual ellipse.
This Vision Experiment Resolved a Centuries-Old Philosophical Debate - Facts So Romantic | Jim Davies | August 14, 2020 | NautilusIn 1912, the Harvard astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt used plate observations from a telescope in Peru to discover that strange variable stars called Cepheids could be used to precisely measure vast distances in space.
One of the most terrifying aspects of the pandemic is that the severity of the disease seems so cruelly and arbitrarily variable.
Our Genes May Explain Severity of COVID-19 and Other Infections | Monique Brouillette | July 27, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
But turnout tends to be far more variable in a midterm election and modeling become far difficult.
Did a Flawed Computer Model Sabotage the Democrats? | Ben Jacobs | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTResearchers acknowledged that some unknown variable might be responsible.
AirBnB allows for connections: host to guest, guest to city, and any other variable you can think of.
This uncertainty explains why the forecast, while optimistic, is highly variable.
Throughout the process the program throws in random changes in a command or variable— these are mutations.
This is What Happens When You Teach Machines the Power of Natural Selection | James Barrat | February 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is small in cloudy swelling from toxins and drugs, and variable in renal tuberculosis and neoplasms.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddIts disadvantage is that it introduces, with the bread, a variable amount of lactic acid and numerous yeast-cells.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddStreptococci are arranged side by side, forming chains of variable length (Fig. 114).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddAfter anchoring the wind was variable and light from the western quarter but during the night there was a heavy swell.
We have done nothing but sail on with very variable weather, for the last thirteen days.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria Graham
British Dictionary definitions for variable
/ (ˈvɛərɪəbəl) /
liable to or capable of change: variable weather
(of behaviour, opinions, emotions, etc) lacking constancy; fickle
maths having a range of possible values
(of a species, characteristic, etc) liable to deviate from the established type
(of a wind) varying its direction and intensity
(of an electrical component or device) designed so that a characteristic property, such as resistance, can be varied: variable capacitor
something that is subject to variation
maths
an expression that can be assigned any of a set of values
a symbol, esp x, y, or z, representing an unspecified member of a class of objects, numbers, etc: See also dependent variable, independent variable
logic a symbol, esp x, y, z, representing any member of a class of entities
computing a named unit of storage that can be changed to any of a set of specified values during execution of a program
astronomy See variable star
a variable wind
(plural) a region where variable winds occur
Origin of variable
1Derived forms of variable
- variability or variableness, noun
- variably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for variable
[ vâr′ē-ə-bəl ]
A mathematical quantity capable of assuming any of a set of values, such as x in the expression 3x + 2.
A factor or condition that is subject to change, especially one that is allowed to change in a scientific experiment to test a hypothesis. See more at control.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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